Brewing device for a machine for preparing beverages, in particular coffee or tea

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is for an electronic control system for a brewing device for a machine for preparing beverages, in particular coffee or tea. The brewing device comprises a brewing chamber having an opening through which a material to be brewed may be loaded and discharged; a closing body movable away from and towards a sealed closing position of the opening angularly spaced apart from the closing position, through an intermediate ejection position, in which the closing body is raised with respect to the closing position along the longitudinal axis of the brewing chamber; a piston slidably mounted in the brewing chamber in a position axially opposite the closing body; a first electric actuating device for the movement of the closing body; and a second electric actuating device for the movement of the piston. The electronic control system is configured to be arrangeable in the brewing device and comprises a sensory system configured to output electrical signals to allow the reaching, by the closing body, of the opening, closing and ejection positions to be sensed, and the axial position of the piston in the brewing chamber to be determined, and an on-board electronic control unit configured to be connectable to the sensory system to receive electrical signals therefrom, to the first and second electric actuating device to supply electrical control signals thereto, and to an electronic control unit of the beverage preparation machine external to the brewing device to receive therefrom commands relating to the operation of the brewing device. The on-board electronic control unit is further configured to execute commands received from the external control unit to responsively output, also based on the electrical signals received from the sensory system, electrical control signals for the electric actuating devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority of Italian patent applicationNo. 102017000071902 filed on 27 Jun. 2017, the content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a brewing device for a machine forpreparing beverages, in particular coffee or tea.

STATE OF THE ART

Machines for preparing beverages, in particular coffee or tea, are knownin the prior art, which are provided with a brewing device comprising abrewing chamber having an opening through which a material to be brewedmay be loaded and discharged; one or more members operable to cooperatewith the brewing chamber to prepare beverages; one or more electricactuators operable to mutually move the members and the brewing chamberto prepare beverages; and an electronic control system comprising asensory system to output electrical signals that allow relative positionof one or more of the members and of the brewing chamber during abeverage preparation cycle to be determined; and an on-board electroniccontrol unit connected to the sensory system to receive the electricalsignals therefrom, and to each of the electric actuators to supplyelectrical control signals thereto.

A machine for preparing beverages of the above-mentioned type is knownfor example from WO 2013/127476 A1.

SUBJECT-MATTER AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has experimentally experienced that the brewing devices ofthe above-mentioned type are affected by a number of problems that maybe grouped in two major categories: one regarding the electric actuationof the closing body, and one regarding the on-board sensory system.

With regard to the problems concerning the electric actuation of theclosing body, the Applicant has experimentally experienced that theseare fundamentally caused by the production deviations, which may resultin such a wide electric current absorption ranges in the electricactuation as to make characterisation and use of the latter quitedifficult.

In particular, the brewing apparatuses of the above-mentioned type havetwo mechanical stops at a brewing chamber opening position to allow thebrewing material to be loaded and at a brewing chamber closing positionto allow the brewed beverage to be prepared and dispensed.

The Applicant has further experimentally experienced occurrence offrequent malfunctions of the brewing devices due to the fact that theproduction deviations result in new brewing devices having differentmechanical behaviour from more well-run brewing devices, due tomechanical rebounds or to collateral mechanical rigidity, and indifferent batches of electric motors behaving differently from othersdue to electric absorptions significantly different fromcharacterisation.

For these reasons, the brewing devices of the above-mentioned type arefrequently subject to early interruptions of the movement of the closingbody that result in the targeted positions failing to be reached.

The Applicant has further experimentally experienced that in the brewingdevices of the above-mentioned type the specified problems cannot beeasily solved acting on the current thresholds, but require introductionin the control software of a large number of patches that enable theclosing body to be unlocked and positions to be restored when incorrectpositioning is detected, which, in addition to worsening timing of thedispensing cycle, significantly burden the control software and,consequently, exploitation of the required computational resources.

On the other hand, with regard to the problems concerning the on-boardsensory system, the Applicant has experimentally experienced that theseare basically caused by an incorrect placement of the sensors in thebrewing device.

In fact, in the brewing device of the above-mentioned type the variouspositions of the closing body are sensed through two Hall effect sensorsarranged on the head of the brewing device, at the opening of thebrewing chamber, so as to identify the passage of four magnets mountedon one of the two disc cams arranged on opposite sides of the brewingchamber.

Given that some of the positions of the closing body recur during itsmovement, the different electrical current absorptions of the electricactuators of the closing body caused by the production deviations, alongwith the above-mentioned positioning of the Hall effect sensors, resultin positions of the closing body that do not correspond to the actualones being frequently sensed.

Finally, the Applicant has further experienced that, in addition to theabove-mentioned problems, the brewing devices of the above-mentionedtype suffer from a number of technical constraints attributable to thecontrol electronics, both in terms of components used and ofarchitecture, the major constraint being the difficulties linked to theinterchangeability of the brewing device with other ones of differenttype or of the same type but more modern, which interchangeabilityrequires significant electrical and electronic modifications, such aselectrical matchings and/or supplementary electronic circuit boards.

Purpose of the present invention is to provide a brewing device of theabove-mentioned type and which introduces improvements that allow to atleast partly overcome the above-mentioned problems and constraints.

According to the present invention, an electronic control system for abrewing device in a machine for preparing beverages, in particularcoffee or tea, a brewing device comprising such an electronic controlsystem, and a machine for preparing beverages comprising such a brewingdevice are provided, as claimed in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the brewingdevice according the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view the brewing apparatus of FIG. 1 arrangedin an open configuration and mounted on a support which is part of amachine for preparing beverages.

FIG. 3 shows the brewing apparatus of FIG. 2 arranged in a closedconfiguration.

FIG. 4 shows the brewing apparatus of FIG. 3 arranged in a releaseposition from the support.

FIG. 5 shows the brewing apparatus of FIG. 3 detached from the support.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the brewing device of FIG. 3 on acentral plane of symmetry.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective and partly exploded view of a detail of thebrewing apparatus of FIG. 3 .

FIGS. 8 and 9 show side views of the detail of FIG. 7 in the open andclosed configurations shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the brewing apparatus;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a detail of the brewing apparatusof FIG. 10 along line XI-XI.

FIG. 12 shows a layout of components of an electronic control system ofthe brewing device.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of an electronic control printed circuitboard of the electronic control system of the brewing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A detailed description of this invention will now be given withreference to the enclosed Figures to allow a person skilled in the artto implement it and use it. Persons skilled in the art will be able toimplement various modifications to the embodiments described herein andthe general principles disclosed herein could be applied to otherembodiments and applications without departing from the scope of thepresent invention, as disclosed in the appended claims. Accordingly, thepresent invention is not to be limited in scope to the embodimentsdescribed and illustrated herein, but is to be accorded with the widestscope consistent with the principles and characteristics disclosed andclaimed herein.

FIG. 1 shows, as a whole, a brewing device for preparing beverages, inparticular coffee or tea, through a pressurized hot water extractionprocess in a beverage preparation machine.

Under normal operating conditions, the brewing device 1 is arranged inthe beverage preparation machine and is connected to a pressurised hotwater source and an automatic supply device operable to provide to thebrewing apparatus 1, at the beginning of a brewing cycle, a dose ofmaterial to be brewed, for example coffee powder or tea leaves. In avariant, material may be supplied manually by loading, by a user, ofeither a dose of loose material or a known single-serve pod or capsule.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 , the brewing device 1 is configured to bereleasably fastened, as illustrated below, on a support body 2, whichcomprises power take-offs to operate, as mentioned below, movablecomponents of the brewing device 1, and a discharge channel 3 throughwhich exhausted material may be discharged from the brewing device 1 atthe end of each beverage preparation cycle.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the brewing device 1 comprises a frame 4 formed bytwo shells 5 firmly mutually connected, and each comprising a lateralwall 6, which is opposite to the lateral wall 6 of the other shell 5 andcomprises an external flat face 7 parallel to a face 7 of the otherlateral wall 6.

The two shells 5 define a space therebetween, in which a cylindricaltubular body 8 is mounted, which has a longitudinal axis 9 andinternally defines a brewing chamber 10 which communicates externallythrough an upper opening 11 through which a material to be brewed may beloaded and discharged, and is closed at a bottom by a piston 12 operableto compress/eject the material.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , the piston 12 comprises a head 13 and atubular rod 14, which is slidably mounted on a cylindrical body 15integral with the frame 4, and is provided with two diametricallyopposite transverse appendages which slidingly engage respectivelongitudinal slots of the rod 14. One of the two transverse appendagesis solid, while the other appendage is tubular and defines an inletconduit 16 for the brewing water that, during operation, is supplied tothe brewing chamber 10 by the piston 12.

To this purpose, the head 13 of the piston 12 is in the form of a showerplate and receives brewing water from a water supply channel 17, whichis arranged in an elongated element 18 integral with the head 13 andslidably mounted in an axial hole 19 of the cylindrical body 15, and hasone or more transverse holes 20 fluidly communicating with an annulargap between the elongated element 18 and the hole 19.

The piston 12 is operated by an actuating device 21 comprising areversible electric motor 21 a (FIG. 12 ), which is mounted on thesupport body 2 and comprises a power take-off 22 (FIG. 5 ), and a geartransmission comprising a toothed wheel 23 coaxial to the axis 9 andprovided with an internal toothing which meshes with an external thread24 of the rod 14, and an external toothing which meshes with an endlessscrew of a spindle 25 housed in a recess of the frame 4 and releasablycoupled with the power take-off 22.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 6 , the brewing device 1 further comprises aclosing body 26, which is movable, relative to the frame 4 and to thebrewing chamber 10, away from and towards a sealed closing position, inwhich the closing body sealingly closes the upper opening 11,hereinafter referred also to as dispensing position because thedispensing and the brewing of the beverage occur in said position.

In particular, the closing body 26 comprises a piston 27 and a portalsupporting structure comprising a traverse 28 directly connected to thepiston 27, and two guide plates 29, which extend downwardly from ends oftraverse 28 and are arranged mutually facing and specularly shaped;consequently, below and where possible, only one of the two guide plates29 will be described.

Each guide plate 29 is arranged facing face 7 of a respective lateralwall 6 and has a slot 30 slidingly engaged by a respective fulcrum pin31 carried by, and projecting from, the lateral wall 6.

The closing body 26 is operated by an actuating device 32 and itsmovements are guided by a control device 33 which, like the actuatingdevice 32, is part of the brewing device 1.

In particular, the actuating device 32 and the control device 33 areconfigured to translate and rotate the closing body 26 about the fulcrumpins 31 to cause it to be arranged in the closing position (FIG. 3 ), inwhich the piston 24 sealingly engages the opening 11, in an openingposition (FIG. 2 ), in which the piston 27 leaves the opening 11completely uncovered and is angularly offset relative to the closingposition, and in an intermediate or exhausted material ejection position(not shown), in which the closing body 26 is raised relative to theclosing position and the piston 27 is external and axially aligned withthe opening 11.

To this purpose, the actuating device 32 comprises an electric motor 32a (FIG. 12 ), that is mounted on the support body 2 and comprises apower take-off 34 (FIG. 5 ), and a cam drive 35 arranged between themotor and the closing body 26.

The cam drive 35 comprises a barrel cam 36 arranged around the brewingchamber 10 between the cylindrical tubular body 8 and the lateral walls6 of the frame 4, coaxial to the axis 9. The barrel cam 36 comprises atrack 37 on its lateral wall, and two cam followers 38, which engage thetrack 37 in diametrically opposite positions and extend specularly, in adirection transversal to axis 9, outwards from the barrel cam 36,through and beyond the respective lateral walls 6.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 7 , the lateral walls 6 compriserespective specular slots 39, each of which extends in a directionparallel to the axis 9 and is slidably engaged by a respective camfollower 38 to transform, during operation, a rotation of the barrel cam36 about the axis 9 into a linear motion of the cam followers 38 alongthe axis 9.

The two cam followers 38 can be physically separated, as in theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 , or, according to a variant not shown, theycan be firmly connected to each other, they can for example be mountedon a supporting ring arranged coaxially and externally to the barrel cam36. The advantage of this solution is to eliminate, or at least tolimit, any clearance between the cam followers 38 and the track 37, withresulting benefits for the accuracy of the transmission of motion.

The cam drive 35 further comprises two tracks 40, each of which isformed, specular to the other track 40, on one side of a respectiveguide plate 29 towards the brewing chamber 10 and facing thecorresponding lateral wall 6. Each track 40 extends in front of slot 39of the lateral wall 6 facing the respective guide plate 29, and isslidably engaged by an end portion of the cam follower 38 extendingthrough and beyond the slot 39.

Therefore, the coupling between the cam followers 38 and the tracks 40enables motion to be transmitted from the barrel cam 36 to the closingbody 26 by transforming the linear motion of the cam followers 38 alongthe slots 39 in a rotation and translation of the closing body 26relative to the fulcrum pins 31, according to a motion law defined bythe profile of the tracks 40 and by the mentioned control device 33.

The barrel cam 36 controls the movement of the cam followers 38 alongthe slots 39 with a law depending on the profile of the track 37 of thebarrel cam 36 and on its rotation speed.

In a preferred embodiment, the track 37 has a sinusoidal profile, withupper peaks defining the opening position of the closing body 26, andlower peaks defining the closing position.

As shown in the Figures, the profile of the track 37 is preferablydesigned to cause, during a complete rotation of the barrel cam 36 aboutthe axis 9, clockwise or anticlockwise, the closing body 26 to move fromthe opening position to the closing position and, vice versa, from theclosing position to the opening position.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , the barrel cam 36 is operated by theactuating device 32 via a gear reducer mechanism comprising a toothedcrown 41 integral with the barrel cam 36 and meshing with a pinion 42,which is supported by the frame 4 and is angularly integral with atoothed wheel 43 designed to rapidly and releasably couple with thepower take-off 34.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the control device 33 that controls the movement ofthe closing body 26 moved by the cam drive 35 comprises two fixed tracks44, each of which is arranged on the face 7 of a respective lateral wall6, and is engaged by a cam follower 45 carried by the guide plate 29facing the lateral wall 6.

In order to guide the movement of the closing body 26 between theclosing, intermediate, and opening positions, each track 44 comprises arectilinear portion 46 parallel to the axis 9 and a circle arc-shapedportion 47 coaxial to the fulcrum pin 31.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the brewing device 1 further comprises ascraper member 48 movable with the closing body 26 to discharge theexhausted material ejected from the brewing chamber 10 by the piston 12at the end of the preparation of the beverage.

The scraper device 48 is U-shaped, it is hinged to the guide plates 29,and comprises two lateral arms, each of is connected to an end of adoctor blade 49 operable to move onto opening 11 when the closing body26 moves from the opening position to the intermediate position to pushthe exhausted material above a slide 50 connected with the top of thetubular body 8 and thus causing it to fall into the discharge channel 3.

Finally, the brewing device 1 comprises a fastening device 51 toreleasably connect the brewing device 1 to the support body 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5 , the fastening device 51 comprises arelease lever 52, which is hinged to the frame 4 to rotate about an axistransversal to axis 9, between a normal connection position (FIG. 3 ),in which the brewing device 1 is firmly fastened to the support body 2,and a release position (FIG. 4 ), in which the brewing device 1 may berapidly mounted to, and removed from, the support body 2.

The release lever 52 is U-shaped and comprises two rocker arms 53, whichare mutually specular and hinged to respective outer walls 54 of theframe 4, facing the respective guide plates 29, and a transversal member55, which is arranged opposite the brewing device 1 with respect to thesupport body 2, connects ends of the rocker arms 53, and is shaped insuch a way as to define an operation handle 56 of the release lever 52.

As shown in FIG. 2 , each rocker arm 53 is hinged on the respectiveouter wall 54 to rotate about a respective rotating pin 57, which iscoaxial to the other pin 57 and transversal to axis 9, and identifiestwo arms on the rocker arm 53, a first arm 58 extending from the pin 57to the transversal member 55, and a second arm 59 extending from the pin57 to the support body 2.

Each arm 59 has a hook-shaped end portion 60 intended to transversallyengage a respective hooking pin 61 carried by the support body 2.

The rocker arms 53 preferably lie on respective planes parallel to eachother and to axis 9. Furthermore, each outer wall 54 comprises a stop 54a defining a mechanical endstroke for the respective rocker arm 53 whenthe latter is moved from the connection position to the releaseposition. In the example shown, the stop 54 a is made from a ridgeprojecting from the outer wall 54 and bounded, towards the rocker arm53, by a sloped surface defining a shoulder against which the rocker arm53 abuts when the release lever 52 reaches the release position.

In addition to the release lever 52, the fastening device 51 comprises alocking mechanism 62 designed to prevent an accidental removal of therelease lever 52 from the connection position when the brewing device 1is mounted onto the support body 2 (FIG. 3 ), so as to ensure thestability of the connection and, at the same time, cause disconnectionand, in particular, repositioning of the brewing device 1 through theactuation of the release lever 52 to be simple and rapid.

The locking mechanism 62 is magnetic and comprises, for each rocker arm53, a magnet 63 connected to the rocker arm 53, and a magnet 64connected to the associated outer wall 54. The magnets 63 and 64 aremutually positioned in such a way that, when the release lever 52 is inthe connection position (FIG. 3 ), they are mutually in contact, and,when the release lever is in the release position (FIG. 4 ), they arespaced apart and the attraction force results in a torque tending torotate the respective rocker arm 53 about the pin 57 to take the releaselever 52 back into the connection position.

In the shown example (FIG. 2 ), the movement of the release lever 52from the connection position to the release position occurs as a resultof a downward operation, by the user, of the handle 56. In a variant notshown, the release lever 52 may be mounted, mutatis mutandis, to bereversely releasable, namely by operating upwardly the handle 56.Likewise, the magnets 63 and 64 may also be arranged at arm 58, as inthe shown example, or alternatively at arm 59, as long as their positionis such as to achieve the above effect, i.e., to take back, and keep,the release lever 52 in the connection position.

During operation, in order to detach the brewing device 1 it isnecessary to operate the handle 56 in such a way as to exceed theattraction force of the magnets 63 and 64, and cause the rocker arms 53to rotate up to result in the respective hook portions 60 disengagingfrom the hooking pins 61 and the release lever 52 being taken into therelease position. At this point, it is sufficient to move the brewingdevice 1 away from the support body 2, so as to disengage the powertake-offs 22 and 34 from the spindle 25 and, respectively, the toothedwheel 43.

Similarly, to connect the brewing device 1 to the support body 2 it issufficient to align the power take-offs 22 and 34 with the respectivecoupling gears, and move the brewing device 1 towards the support body2, while maintaining, by means of the handle 56, the release lever 52 inthe release position. Once the final position has been reached and therelease lever 52 has been released, the latter automatically moves tothe connection position as a result of the attraction between themagnets 63 and 64.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, 10 and 11 , the fastening device 51 preferablyfurther comprises, in addition to the release lever 52 and the lockingmechanism 62, a safety device 65 to prevent the detachment of thebrewing device 1 from the support body 2 as a result of an accidentalactuation of the handle 56.

The safety device 65 comprises two elastic detents 66 mountedelastically on the frame 4 to snap-fit engage respective recesses 67formed in the support body 2. The elastic detents 66 are manuallyoperable through respective control levers 68, which are specularlymounted on the outside of respective shells 5, on opposite sides of therod 14, through the interposition of respective springs 69 to maintainthe control levers 68 in a normal widened position (position representedin the lower half of FIG. 10 ), in which the elastic detents 66 engagethe respective recesses 67.

The safety device 65 is manually deactivable by applying a pressure onthe control levers 68 to bring them to a close-up position (positionillustrated in the upper half of FIG. 10 ), in which the respectiveelastic detents 66 are out of the recesses 67 and the brewing device 1may be removed from the support body 2 after having previously moved therelease lever 52 into the release position.

Operation of the brewing device 1 during a preparation cycle of abeverage will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 8 and 9 .

FIGS. 2 and 8 show the brewing device 1 at the beginning of apreparation cycle. In this position, the piston 12 is arranged at thebottom of the brewing chamber 10, the closing body 26 is in the openingposition, the cam followers 38 of the barrel cam 36 are arranged at theupper ends of the slots 39 and at the lower ends of the tracks 40, andthe cam followers 45 carried by the guide plates 29 are arranged, alongthe tracks 44, at the end of the circle arc-shaped portion 47 furthestfrom the rectilinear portion 46.

Once the material to be brewed has been loaded, the motor of theactuating device 32 is operated to bring the closing body 26 into itsclosing position. During this movement, the cam followers 38 moves downalong the slots 39 under the trust of the barrel cam 36 and, as a resultof the coupling with the tracks 40, they impart a downward trust to theguide plates 29 that causes, thanks to the coupling between the camfollowers 45 and the tracks 44, the closing body 26 to rotate about thefulcrum pins 31 from the opening position to the intermediate position,and a subsequent downward translation from the intermediate position tothe closing position.

As shown in FIG. 9 , in the closing position of the closing body 26, thecam followers 38 of the barrel cam 36 are arranged at the lower ends ofthe slots 39 and at the upper ends of the tracks 40, and the camfollowers 45 carried by the guide plates 29 are arranged, along thetracks 44, at the ends of the rectilinear portion 46 furthest from thecircle arc-shaped portion 47.

Once the closing body 26 has reached the closing position and theactuating device 32 has been deactivated, the actuating device 21 isactivated to lift the piston 12 and compress the material to be brewed.Pressurised hot water is subsequently supplied to the brewing chamber 10through the conduit 16, the channel 17 and the head 13 of the piston 12to brew the material with resulting production of the beverage, thatexits through the piston 27 and a dispensing conduit 70 carried by theclosing body 26 (FIG. 3 ).

Once the dispensing is over, the barrel cam 36 is actuated again torotate about axis 9 and move the closing body 26 to the opening positionand, subsequently, to the closing position, so as to push into thedischarge channel 3, through the scraper member 48, the exhaustedmaterial ejected from the brewing chamber 10 as a result of the liftingof the piston 12.

Regarding the above-mentioned, it should be specified that the actuationof the closing body 26 through the barrel cam 36 enables the closingbody 26 to be moved from the opening position to the closing position,and vice versa, as by rotating the barrel cam 36 always in the samedirection of rotation. This entails a significant reduction of thecomplexity of the motor control software, with the resulting benefitsboth for the control and for the reliability of the brewing device 1.

The possibility of carrying out a complete cycle by causing the barrelcam 36 to rotate always in the same direction of rotation does not,however, exclude the possibility of controlling the barrel cam 36 so asto reverse its direction of rotation as required. For example, therotation of the barrel cam 36 can be usefully reversed when the closingbody 26 reaches the intermediate position to discharge the exhaustedmaterial so as to carry the closing body 26 back to the opening positionwithout necessarily passing through the closing position.

From a more strictly structural point of view, the use of the barrel cam36 enables a significant increase to be obtained in the compactness ofthe brewing device 1 compared to similar known devices, in particularcompared to the one discussed in the introductory part of the presentdescription. Indeed, the barrel cam 36 enables all the components of thecam drive 35 that moves the guide plates 29 of the closing body 26, andall the components of the control device 33 that controls the movementof the guide plates 29, to be placed in the gap between the brewingchamber 10 and the guide plates 29, with the resulting reduction in theoverall dimensions of the brewing device 1.

Finally, the brewing device 1 is provided with an on-board electroniccontrol system 71, shown in FIG. 12 , configured to be associated orcoupled with, preferably arranged in, the brewing device 1.

As shown in FIG. 12 , the on-board electronic control system 71comprises:

-   -   a sensory system 72 configured to output electrical signals such        as to allow reaching, by the closing body 26, of the opening,        closing and ejection positions to be sensed, and the axial        position of the piston 12 to be determined, and    -   an on-board electronic control printed circuit board 73        configured to be connectable to the sensory system 72.

The on-board electronic control printed circuit board 73 is furtherconfigured to be connectable to an electronic control board 74 of thebeverage preparation machine 100 and external to the brewing device 1 toreceive therefrom commands relating to the operation of the brewingdevice 1 and responsively to control operation of the brewing device 1,and in particular of the electric motors 21 a and 32 a thereof, based onthe electrical signals outputted by the sensory system 72 and oncommands received from the external electronic control board 74, asdescribed in detail here below, to perform beverage preparation cycles.

The on-board electronic control board 73 may be conveniently connectedto the external electronic control board 74 through a fieldbus-basedcommunication network 75, preferably a Controller Area Network (CAN) busor equivalent, and cooperates therewith through a master-slavecommunication architecture, in which the on-board electronic controlboard 73 is the slave electronic control board, and the externalelectronic control board 74 is the master electronic control board.

The sensory system 72 comprises:

-   -   two electronic sensor printed circuit boards 76, 77 separate        from the on-board control electronic board 73 and arranged in        the brewing device 1 to enable the on-board control electronic        board 73 to sense the reaching, by the closing body 26, of the        opening, closing and ejection positions; and    -   an encoder 78 coupled to the electric motor 21 a to enable the        on-board control electronic board 73 to determine the axial        position of the piston 12 in the brewing chamber 10.

The two electronic sensor boards 76, 77 are of the type normallyavailable on the market and are fastened with screws to a wall of thesupport body 2 facing the brewing device 1.

Each electronic sensor board 76, 77 comprises a couple of Hall effectsensors 76 a, 76 b and 77 a, 77 b connected, through suitableelectrically conductive tracks, to a respective electrical connector 79,80 to enable the electronic sensor board 76, 77 to be connected to theon-board control electronic board 73 via a dedicated electric cable (notshown).

The electronic sensor board 76 is mounted to enable passage and, hence,proximity to be sensed of two magnetic elements 81, 82 mounted on thetoothed wheel 43 in angular positions corresponding, one to the openingand closing positions and the other to the ejection position of theclosing body 26. Conversely, the other Hall effect sensor is not usedand it could therefore even be omitted.

In this regard, it is to be appreciated that, as previously mentioned,the profile of the track 37 is such that a complete rotation of thebarrel cam 36 is equivalent to a complete movement cycle of the closingbody 26, whereby the angular positions of the toothed wheel 43 in theopening and closing positions of the closing body 26 coincide. For thisreason, the electronic sensor board 76 may not alone distinguish theopening position from the closing position, but only distinguish theseposition from the ejection position.

For this reason, the electronic sensor board 77 is mounted to enableproximity to be sensed of a further magnetic element 83 carried by theguide plate 29 in such a position as to be in the proximity of the Halleffect sensor 77 a when the closing body 26 is in the closing position,and in the proximity of the Hall effect sensor 77 b when the closingbody 26 is in the ejection position.

As is known, a Hall effect sensor is formed by an element that issensitive to variations in the magnetic field flux when a ferromagneticmaterial body gets close and moves away from the sensitive element, andoutputs a digital electrical signal that has a first logic level,typically high, when the ferromagnetic material body is arranged in theproximity of the Hall effect sensor, and otherwise a second logic level,low in the example considered.

Thus, the output digital electrical signal of the Hall effect sensor 76a of the electronic sensor board 76 enables the on-board controlelectronic board 73 to sense the reaching of the ejection position andof one out of the opening and closing positions, in which the outputdigital electrical signal has a high logic level, while the outputdigital electrical signals of the two Hall effect sensors 77 a and 77 bof the electronic sensor board 77 enable the on-board control electronicboard 73 to sense, on the one hand, the reaching of the closing anddispensing positions, in which both the output digital electricalsignals have high logic levels, and, on the other hand, to confirm thereaching of the opening position, in which both of the output digitalelectrical signals do not sense the proximity of the magnetic element 83and, hence, have both low logic levels.

The Hall effect sensors are conveniently calibratable, i.e., they enablethe degree of proximity of the respective magnetic element, which causesthe commutation of the respective digital electric signal between thehigh and low logic levels, to be accurately adjusted by simply acting ona threshold value with which the analogue electrical signals outputtedby the elements that are sensitive to the variations of the magneticfield flux are compared to output the digital electrical signals.

As schematically shown in FIG. 13 , the on-board electronic controlboard 73 comprises:

-   -   an input interface (connector) 84 for the connection to the        electronic sensor boards 76, 77,    -   an input interface (connector) 85 for the connection to the        encoder 78,    -   an output interface (connector) 86 for the connection to the        electric motors 21 a, 32 a,    -   an input/output communication interface (connector) 87 for the        connection to the external electronic control board 74,    -   an electric power supply interface (connector) 88 for the        connection to an external electric power supply for electrically        power supplying the on-board electronic control board 73, the        sensor boards 76, 77, and the electric motors 21 a, 32 a, and in        particular to an external electric power supply capable of        supplying for example +5V for electrically power supplying the        on-board electronic control board 73 and the sensor boards 76,        77, and +12V for electrically power supplying the electric        motors 21 a, 32 a,    -   a voltage stabiliser 89 connected to the electric power supply        interface 88 to stabilise the voltages supplied by the external        electric power supply,    -   a driver stage 90 configured to output, in response to received        electrical control signals, electrical drive signals,        conveniently of the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) type, for the        electric motors 21 a and 32 a, and to measure and output data        indicative of the electric power absorbed thereby;    -   a memory 91 to store data associated with the operation of the        on-board electronic control board 73 (brewing device ID,        diagnostics results, alarm history, etc.), and    -   a microcontroller 92 connected to the other components of the        slave electronic control board through suitable electrically        conductive tracks, and programmed to:        -   receive the electrical signals outputted by the Hall effect            sensors 76 a, 77 a, 77 b, and by the encoder 78,        -   receive from the driver stage 90 data indicative of the            electric current absorbed by the electric motors 21 a and 32            a;        -   receive from the external electronic control board 74,            through the input/output communication interface 87,            commands for operating the electric motors 21 a, 32 a;        -   interpret and execute the received commands to output, also            based on the electrical signals received from the Hall            effect sensors 76 a, 77 a, 77 b and from the encoder 78,            electrical control signals for the driver stage 90 to cause            the driver stage 90 responsively outputs electrical drive            signals for the electric motors 21 a, 32 a, so as to operate            the latter to complete an above-described dispensing cycle;        -   determine the electric current consumptions of the electric            motors 21 a and 32 a,        -   identify possible locking of the closing body 26 and of the            piston 12 based on the electric current consumptions of the            electric motors 21 a and 32 a and of the electrical signals            outputted by the Hall effect sensors 76 a, 77 a, 77 b,        -   discriminate the various operational phases and the stress            of the brewing device 1 knowing a priori the nominal            electric current consumption (for example, during ejection            of the exhausted material the movement of the closing body            26 is fluid and the electric current consumption is            medium/low and stable during the movement, while during            compression of the material to be brewed the electric            current consumption is high and with a peak during            compression), and        -   automatically calibrate, in response to a received command,            the Hall effect sensors based on a reading of the analogue            electrical signals outputted by the Hall effect sensors.

The provision on-board of the brewing device 1 of anelectrical/electronic support capable of managing all theabove-mentioned functions through a localised intelligence dedicated tothe integration of all the functions enables the use and the responsespeed of the brewing device 1 to be significantly improved, therebyoptimising use thereof.

Thanks to the fact that the on-board electronic control board 73 iscapable of communicating with the outside through a dedicated can BUSinterface (or another protocol), this enables diagnostics, control, anddata storage function to be performed, such as to allow:

-   -   a “black box” control of the brewing device 1 to be implemented,        recalling known commands, through the communication protocol, to        move the closing body 26 and the piston 12. The commands that        may be imparted for a transverse and comprehensive management        for the various applications that may request that may be both        simpler commands, e.g., lifting the piston 12 to a given height,        and more complex commands, e.g., closing and automatically        pressurising the brewing chamber 10, completely ejecting the        exhausted material, restoring the initial position, etc.;    -   leave management and diagnostics completely integrated in the        brewing device 1, enabling more accurate and dedicated results        to be obtained both in terms of performance and in terms of        software maintenance. All information required for the        telemetric data transmission, such as electrical current and        encoder position readings, etc., will then be transported        through a CAN bus-based communication;    -   speed up testing and maintenance thanks to the operational        autonomy that the on-board intelligence allows to achieve,        together with malfunction detection and provisioning of test        benches;    -   store diagnostics and counting data relating to the movement of        the brewing device 1, such as to enable this information that is        relevant for warrant and use purposes to be safely saved;    -   store production information such as batches, production dates,        and serial numbers;    -   make the brewing device 1 interchangeable with others without        necessarily carrying out substantial electrical adaptations,        making it possible in future to use various types of brewing        devices integrating them with newly developed machines without        having to arrange for electrical adaptations and/or additional        integration boards; and    -   render the brewing device independent of the general management        of the beverage preparation machine, so that the brewing device        may be interfaced with any beverage preparation machine, as long        as it is equipped with a CAN bus-based network interface.

Moreover, the simple interfacing (network connection and electricalsupply) of the on-board electronic control board 73 with externalsystems results in the invention being implementable also in brewingdevices of types (even very) different from the one described above, andin particular brewing devices in which beverages are prepared via thecooperation of the brewing chambers with members of the brewing devicethat are different from the described ones and/or according to modesdifferent from the described ones.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A combination of an electronic machinecontrol unit and an electronic brewer control system for a beveragepreparation machine; wherein the beverage preparation machine comprisesa brewing device including: a brewing chamber configured to receive amaterial to be brewed; one or more members arranged to cooperate withthe brewing chamber to prepare beverages; and one or more electricactuators operable to mutually move the members and the brewing chamberto prepare beverages; wherein the electronic machine control unit isexternal to the brewing device, and the electronic brewer control systemis configured to be associable to the brewing device to allow operationof the brewing device to be electronically controlled; the electronicbrewing control system comprises: a sensory system configured to outputelectrical signals to allow relative position of one or more of themembers and of the brewing chamber to be determined during a beveragepreparation cycle; and an on-board electronic brewer control unitseparate from the electronic machine control unit and configured to beelectrically connectable to the electronic machine control unit througha fieldbus-based communication network, the on-board electronic brewercontrol unit being connected to the sensory system to receive electricaloutput signals therefrom, and to the electric actuator(s) to supplyelectrical control signals thereto; wherein the electronic machinecontrol unit is configured to output to the on-board electronic brewercontrol unit, through the fieldbus-based communication network, commandsrelating to the operation of the brewing device; wherein the on-boardelectronic brewer control unit is configured to: receive from theelectronic machine control unit, through the fieldbus-basedcommunication network, commands relating to the operation of the brewingdevice; and interpret and execute the received commands to responsivelyoutput, also based on electrical signals from the sensory system,electrical control signals for the electric actuator(s); wherein theelectronic brewer and machine control units are configured to cooperatethrough a master-slave communication architecture, in which the on-boardelectronic brewer control unit is the slave electronic control unit, andthe electronic machine control unit is the master electronic controlunit.
 2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the electronic brewercontrol system further comprises an electronic brewer control printedcircuit board configured to be arrangeable in the brewing device, andcomprising: the on-board electronic brewer control unit; an inputinterface for connection to the sensory system, one or more outputinterfaces for connection to the electric actuator(s), an electric powersupply interface for connection to an external electric power supply,and an input/output communication interface for connection to thefieldbus-based communication network, which interfaces are all connectedto the electronic brewer control unit; and a driver stage configured toreceive electrical control signals, to responsively output, based on thereceived electrical control signals, electrical drive signals for theelectric actuator device(s), and to measure and output data indicativeof an electric current absorbed by the electric actuator device.
 3. Thecombination of claim 2, wherein the sensory system comprises one or moreelectronic sensor printed circuit boards configured to be arrangeable inthe brewing device, separate from and connected to the electronic brewercontrol printed circuit board, and on each one of which one or moresensors are mounted.
 4. The combination of claim 3, wherein the sensorysystem comprises one or more Hall effect sensors, each arranged in thebrewing device to output a digital electrical signal switching betweenfirst and second logic levels depending on whether a magnetic elementcarried by a moving member of the brewing device is present in theproximity of the Hall effect sensor; and wherein each Hall effect sensoris calibratable to allow a degree of proximity of the magnetic elementto the Hall effect sensor at which the digital electrical signalswitches between the first and the second logic levels to be adjustable.5. The combination of claim 1, wherein the fieldbus-based communicationnetwork is a Controller Area Network (CAN).
 6. A beverage preparationmachine comprising a brewing device including a brewing chamberconfigured to receive a material to be brewed, one or more membersarranged to cooperate with the brewing chamber to prepare beverages, andone or more electric actuators operable to mutually move the members andthe brewing chamber to prepare beverages; wherein the beveragepreparation machine further comprises the combination of the electronicmachine control unit and the electronic brewer control system ofclaim
 1. 7. The brewing device of claim 1, wherein the electronicmachine control unit comprises a circuit board that is free of a userinterface thereon.
 8. A brewing device for a beverage preparationmachine, comprising: a brewing chamber having a longitudinal axis and anopening through which a material to be brewed may be loaded anddischarged; a closing body movable between a sealed closing position, inwhich the closing body sealingly closes the opening, and an openposition, angularly spaced apart from the closing position, through anintermediate ejection position, in which the closing body is raisedrelative to the closing position along the longitudinal axis; a pistonslidingly mounted in the brewing chamber axially opposite the closingbody; a first electric actuator to move the closing body; a secondelectric actuator to move the piston; and an electronic brewer controlsystem configured to allow operation of the brewing device to beelectronically controlled; wherein the electronic brewing control systemcomprises: a sensory system configured to output electrical signals toallow relative position of one or more of the members and of the brewingchamber to be determined during a beverage preparation cycle; and anon-board electronic control unit separate from an electronic machinecontrol unit of the beverage preparation machine, which is external tothe brewing device and is configured to control operation of thebeverage preparation machine; wherein the on-board electronic controlunit is configured to be electrically connectable to the electronicmachine control unit through a fieldbus-based communication network, tothe sensory system to receive electrical output signals therefrom, andto the electric actuator(s) to supply electrical control signalsthereto; wherein the on-board electronic control unit is furtherconfigured to: receive from the electronic machine control unit, throughthe fieldbus-based communication network, commands relating to theoperation of the brewing device; and interpret and execute the receivedcommands to responsively output, also based on electrical signals fromthe sensory system, electrical control signals for the electricactuator(s).
 9. The brewing device of claim 8, wherein the sensorysystem comprises: a first Hall effect sensor arranged in the brewingdevice to output an electrical signal indicative of the passage, in theproximity of the first Hall effect sensor, of first and second magneticelements mounted on a toothed wheel of a gear drive of the firstelectric actuator, in respective angular positions corresponding one tothe opening and closing positions, and the other one to the ejectionposition of the closing body; wherein the second and third Hall effectsensors are arranged in the brewing device to output electrical signalsindicative of the passage, in the proximity of the second and third Halleffect sensors, of a third magnetic element carried by the closing bodyin a position such as to result in the third magnetic element being inthe proximity of the second Hall effect sensor when the closing body isin the ejection position, and of the third Hall effect sensor when theclosing body is in the closing position, and a position sensor coupledto the second electric actuator to output an electrical position signalindicative of the axial position of the piston in the brewing chamber.